Broken Promises
by Battleofthegood
Summary: He believed we were soul mates and she believed it was the work of fate. However it may be, Lily Evans was to marry James Potter. Time was the only obstacle standing in the way of that wonderful day… until a new law shattered their dreams. James makes a promise that is found difficult to keep. Lily/James, Frank/Alice and many more.


**BROKEN PROMISES**

**Rated T, but will most likely go up to M in later chapters. **

**I'm a huge Jily fan. I didn't want to do a story about how they fell in love, because it's overdone. Instead, let's put an obstacle in James and Lily's romance and watch as they fight for their other half. **

**I like being complicated, so the story goes from present to past and from first to third person. Anyway, if it's too much, just tell me. **

**P.S. They graduated June 1978.**

* * *

**Prologue**

**_(October 1979)_**

_He believed we were soul mates and I believed it was the work of fate. However it may be, I, Lily Evans, was to marry James Potter. _

_The rings had been purchased. My dress had been fitted and dry-cleaned. His tux had been ironed to perfection. Every piece of jewellery had been cleaned. The invitations had been sent. The Potter's backyard had been transformed to hold the ceremony. _

_Time was the only obstacle standing in the way of that wonderful day… until a new law shattered our dreams. _

_I finally found an undetectable book to write down my story. This isn't the story about how I fell in love with James Potter (Which is a hell of a good one). This is the story about how we fell apart. However, I haven't given up yet… I hope that someday he'll walk through the door and fulfill the promise he had broken so long ago. _

_It all started over a year ago, but it seemed so much longer than that._

_Like any other morning, I had read the newspaper as soon as it had been delivered. _

**(August 1978)**

**(Lily Evans)**

Her heart had stopped for a full second.

The red head sat up straight on her bed in her parents' house holding on to today's _Daily Prophet. _She knew Wizard's laws often differed from Muggle ones, but _this_? This one was insane.

She tried to maintain the tears that were begging to come out of her eyes. She took a few deep breath trying to calm her fast-beating heart.

It couldn't affect _her_?

She was to be married next weekend, surly they wouldn't break them apart?

'Alright, Lily,' she told herself quietly, 'read the article again…'

_NEW MARRIAGE LAW_

_A new law passed by the Wizengamot was announced today and will be in place when offices open tomorrow at 8:00._

_The law is relatively simple: Every pure-blood is to marry a pure-blood, every half blood is to marry a half-blood and every muggle-born is to marry a muggle-born, unless the Wizengamot decides otherwise._

_ Every witch or wizard must be married by the age of eighteen (which gives them a year after being of age to find a suitable partner). Those of eighteen and older who are yet to be married have two options:_

_1) Choose a suitable partner and present themselves Thursday at 9:00 on the grounds of Hogwarts for a celebration, or;_

_2) Present yourself at the same place, same time, to meet a suitable partner. _

_We encourage the expansion of a family once you are married. A new law is coming into place soon regarding the subject. _

_To those already married to someone who is not from their own blood-statues, we highly recommend that you do not reproduce. Once again, a new law will be coming soon enough._

Lily put the newspaper down on her night table. Nothing was said about those who were engaged, or soon to be married. She had been eighteen for more than half a year now, so it _could_ affect her.

How could the Wizengamot pass such a law?

_Voldemort. _

It had Voldemort written all over it.

The magical community wasn't going to accept this, she thought. Someone was bound to start a petition.

'Lily!' She heard her mum calling her. 'Breakfast is served, dear.'

'Just a minute, mum!' She yelled back her voice cracking slightly.

She got out of bed and quickly got dress. She was going to have breakfast, then head to the Order of the Phoenix to know exactly what was going on. There was no sense in panicking before speaking to Dumbledore. He was in the Wizengamot after all.

She took out a piece of parchment and scribbled down really quickly.

_Have you seen the Prophet? I'm heading to Headquarters around 10:00. Meet me there._

_Lily_

This had to be the shortest letter she had ever sent, but she knew he'd come and meet her there. She took her black owl, Nibbet, out of her cage and sent her off.

She wasn't sure whether to tell her parents or not about the new law. Having muggle parents could have its advantages or disadvantages. She had taken two steps in the kitchen when her mum, a tall and skinny blond woman, embraced her.

'How's my beautiful daughter?' She said as a way of good morning. 'I'm going to miss having you here when you get married next weekend!'

Lily didn't say anything. Her mouth was awfully dry.

'Not that I'm complaining,' her mother said probably taking her lack of respond as an insult, 'he's pretty funny and he's a charmer, isn't he? He laughs a lot too, remember that one time when he was laughing at the toaster…'

Lily wanted to run back upstairs. Why was it on the day that her wedding was in jeopardy that her mother started listing the many wonderful things about James?

'…and he does have quite a lot of money – bonus! – oh, and he's quite handsome, I must say.' She finished quite proudly. 'Did Petunia said she'd come to the wedding?'

Lily slumped down beside her father, a short red head man, on one of the kitchen chair. 'Can we talk about something else?'

Her mother stared blankly at her; even her father had put down the muggle newspaper.

'Sweetheart, are you alright?' Her mother asked her in concerned.

'Yeah, mum,' Lily said avoiding her mother's eyes. 'Everything's fine. I just want a wedding free morning-'

'Did you have a fight with-?'

'MUM, everything's fine!' Lily said grabbing some eggs quite furiously.

Her parents exchange a look. Her father gave her mother a 'leave her bad temper alone' shrug and they started talking about Vernon's latest promotion.

Lily ate in silent until the conversations between her parents died away and Lily was found in the spotlight once more.

'What are your plans today?' Her father asked.

Lily tried to give a non-important shrug. 'I was going to go to work.'

Lily had lied about the Order. She had told her parents that she was working for the Ministry of Magic. She had said she was a sort of detective and was searching for Death Eaters. She wasn't going to tell them that the Order was a secret organisation, that she wasn't being paid and that she would most likely end up dead because she was a muggle-born.

Instead, she had ask her mother to stay home for the few months between graduation and her wedding for there was no point in renting a flat for two or three months. She had told her mother she was putting the money aside for the wedding, which was a complete lie because James' father had insisted on paying for it.

'It's Sunday…' her mum said disappointed. 'I thought since it's your last weekend here, we could have done something special.'

'I'm not dying.' Lily said exasperated now. 'I'll still come and visit you. The Death Eaters aren't taking a break because it's Sunday. They really need me to come in today.'

Lily drank the last of her milk and kissed her mother on the cheek.

'I should be home sometime tonight.'

**_(September 1979)_**

_I've been in love once in my life. Her name was Lily. _

_I'm married now, but not to her. My wife told me to write down my feelings, because apparently it works for her. I don't usually write. Lily would never believe you if you told her that I am. _

_This is the story about how I lost my one and only. _

**(August 1978)**

**(James Potter)**

James was always the last to know any good news, because he never bothered reading the _Daily Prophet._ If anything important was to happen, he would hear it from everybody else anyway. His father, who was old enough to be his grandfather, was rambling on about the happenings while eating breakfast, so this is how James founded out.

'A new marriage law?' James had choked when his father had read the article out loud over the kitchen table.

Even the house-elves had stopped in their tracks, which they had not done since the passing of James's mother.

'They can't do this!' James said slamming his fist on the table.

His father looked at James in pure calmness. 'You know what this means, son?'

'I don't _care_ about the stupid law. I'm not marrying some…' he tried to think about a foul name for purebloods who thought themselves better than muggle-borns, but realised that none existed, 'some… _you know!'_

'I know,' his father agreed, 'which is why, you'll have to get married today!'

James who was mumbling darkly looked up across the table to where his father was looking at the backyard thoughtfully.

'What?'

'The law will begin tomorrow morning.' His father said as though James was being stupid. 'If you get married today-'

James got up from his chair so quickly that he felt as though the whole kitchen had spun. Before he could think of what to do next, an owl he recognised instantly flew through the window and landed in front of him.

'It's her,' he breathed heavily as he read the small note, 'she wants me to meet her at 10:00 – that was five minutes ago – I got to go!'

**(Lily)**

_Headquarters, who was in Marlene McKinnon's dead grandparents' house, had not been this packed since the last passing of a member. Everyone had come and talk about the new law. When I entered the house, I was immediately being hugged by Alice Smith and Marlene McKinnon. _

'Oh, Lily!' Alice squeaked. Alice was a short girl with a pointed face. 'I'm so sorry!'

'Wha-?'

'Frank and I are alright as far as mating goes, but you and James…'

Lily tried and laughed it out even though her stomach had dropped. 'Come on, Alice, there's no way that law is going to work… It's impossible!'

Alice exchanged a look with Marlene, a tall and beautiful brunette.

'Dumbledore's in the living room,' Marlene said in a hush voice, 'he rekons it's the real thing.'

'Say we refuse…?' Lily asked slowly, her heart in her throat.

'Then you might as well reserve a place in Azkaban.' Alice said sadly.

'No way…' Lily said masking her fears with a humorous voice. 'Listen, everyone is just going to run around cheating on their spouse.'

Marlene shook her head. 'They will pass flyers of all the rules of the law Thursday when we all get married. Cheating could easily give you a one-way portkey to Azkaban.'

'Okay…' Lily said trying to find a loophole, 'they said in the article that the Wizengamot can decide whether a couple of different kinds of blood can marry-'

Marlene looked at Lily with pity. 'Oh, Lily, don't you see? The Wizengamot is being control by You-Know-Who. They only needed fifty percent of the members to agree to pass a new law. I'm sorry, but You-Know-Who's got control of at least the majority. Do you think they're going to let you marry a pure-blood! They want to purify the wizard's blood is what they want to do.'

'But, why would they say that a different blood-'

'They mean someone like me,' Marlene explained further, 'I'm not a _pure_-blood, but I'm very, very close. So, they might ship me with one.'

'They might also ship you with a close to muggle-born.' Alice said thoughtfully, 'someone that has a muggle parent and a muggle-born one.'

Lily was starting to feel rather really cold inside, yet it seemed almost too bad to be true.

'Is James here?'

'No, but nearly everyone else is in the living room – Sirius, Peter, Remus, Frank, the Prewetts, Emmeline, Hestia, Kingsley-'

'She gets it.' Marlene cut Alice off. 'We'll be here all night if you start naming everyone. Come on, let's just go and see the happenings.'

Lily followed her two friends in the living room where at least two dozen of faces turned to see the three of them entered the room.

'Where's James?' Sirius Black asked immediately.

Lily shrugged though she was starting to wonder where he was. Didn't he care at all that their wedding might be off and they might be marrying some stranger in a few days.

'This isn't true, is it?' Lily asked looking directly at Dumbledore who looked very grave.

'I'm afraid so,' Dumbledore said nodding slightly.

'But, surly you can do something?'

'I do not hold that kind of power.' Dumbledore said quietly. 'I can only vote for myself and unfortunately at least twenty-five others have a different opinion then mine.'

'You mean Voldemort has!' Sirius said loudly.

A shudder ran across the room at the mention of Voldemort's name and Peter Pettigrew almost fell off his chair.

'Yes, he has.' Dumbledore agreed. He looked around at his fellow Order members and continued on. 'Which is why you'll have to play along-'

'No, we're not!'

Lily spun around in time to see James at the doorframe. Her heart felt a hundred times lighter. James wouldn't let them take her away.

'I can't have all my members in prison.' Dumbledore explained calmly, but James ignored him.

He had walked straight to where Lily was and announced, much to Lily's surprise, 'We're getting married tonight.'

Lily didn't know why she hadn't thought about it sooner, but next second Dumbledore shattered that idea.

'You need someone who is licensed to give marriage and unfortunately two of them are already booked and the last one is on his day off. He refused a dozen marriages already.'

James raised his eyebrow and said, 'It's like my old man always told me; there's nothing a bag full of galleons can't fix.'

Normally, Lily would have told him that it was the worst bit of philosophy she had ever heard, but right now, if that was going to save her marriage, so be it.

**(James)**

_Apparently they are things money can't fix. _

James knocked on the wooden door while holding a huge bag with the other hand. The house was huge and James feared that the man had perhaps a whole lot of money already. Lily, who was standing beside him, was chewing her tongue.

'It'll be fine,' James told her quietly, but he wasn't sure he believed it himself.

An old man answered the door. He had the face of someone that had smoked too much. James was suddenly happy he, himself, had quitted months ago, much to Lily's delight. The man had thick white hair and was limping on a cane.

'Go away,' the old man said, 'don't think I don't know what you're here for. I've seen twenty young couples at my doorstep in the last hour-'

James threw the bag of galleons at his feet. The old man laughed.

'Well, well, well… do you think I need that rubbish? What good will that be when I'm in Azkaban for marrying the two of you?'

'The law only starts tomorrow morning,' James said his patient being tested, but still he remained calm, 'if you sign the parchments today-'

'Fools!' The man suddenly yelled. Lily had jumped closer to James. 'I don't care what the paper says; I'm not endangering my freedom so you can have yours.'

'But, sir-' Lily tried.

'Listen, you idiot of a women,' the old man said quite angrily, 'it's probably better this way. You'll marry one of your own and don't start spitting love quotes down my way… I've seen it before… couples like you… the beautiful girl and the rich guy… typical… it won't last. One day, you'll grow old and he'll be after another young beautiful girl who will only shag for money. Now, get out of my sight or I'll call the Aurors!'

Without waiting for a reply he slammed the door shut and James, now angry, kicked the door with all his might while swearing at the old man.

Lily's soft voice brought him back to his sense.

'That's it… we're done.'

James had stopped swearing and looked at her. Her green eyes were sparkling, not with joy, but with tears.

**(Lily)**

_At that moment, reality hit me. Alice, Marlene and Dumbledore were right. I wasn't going to marry James Potter. James and I were over. We had three days left together. It felt a bit like knowing when you were dying. I had three days to do everything I've ever wanted to do. _

Lily was being dragged out of the old man's yard by James. She couldn't really see anything. She felt a single tear running down her cheek. He brought her to a stop right in front of the house's gate.

'Don't cry,' James said in a soft voice while forcing her to look at him, 'we're not done. This is just another obstacle.'

Lily didn't want to look at him, but James was forcing her to. She shook him away.

'Lily…'

'Don't you get it, James… they're going to force us apart.'

Another tear.

James took both her hands. 'I promise you, Lily. No matter what happens, I'll fight for us.'

_I knew he meant it. I still believe that at that precise moment he had meant it, but fate had other plans and maybe – just maybe – James was right. We were – and still are - soul mates because fate has done nothing but destroy our plans. _

_This promise – however much he meant it – is now broken._

* * *

**I'm going to stop here and let you guys tell me what you think. :)**

**Also, I concentrated the prologue on Lily and James and they will remain the center of attention, but I plan on giving other characters a good look at (Sirius, Remus, Peter, Severus, Marlene, Alice, Frank... or any other that you request).**

**It's going to be a bumpy ride. **

**P.S. English is my second language, so any beta can PM if they are interested. **

**-Battleofthegood**


End file.
